Introduction to Human Behaviour

Sally is a three year old. Whenever Sally’s mother has attempted to leave Sally with friend or relative, Sally has screamed and clung to her mother and seemed terrified at the prospect. Sally’s mother has given in and has not left her since she was born. Sally’s mother is now thinking about starting a course at university. This will involve her being away from Sally for a morning. Sally’s grandmother has offered to look after Sally while her mum is at University. Sally’s mum really wants to do this course but doesn’t know how she will manage Sally.

This paper will discuss Sally’s anxiety difficulties. It will explain separation anxiety particularly its causes and the difficulties which may stem from the disorder. I will also endeavour to design a suitable behavioural program that shall seek to address the disorder by means of an operant conditioning technique. Finally I shall discuss how I would measure the success of the proposed behavioural program.

“What was once thought to be a normal part of growing up, professionals now recognize excessive anxiety as a debilitating condition with long-term consequences” (King 1993, pg 305). Separation anxiety stems from a babies attachment to its mother. Research into the attachment theory was developed by Mary Ainsworth (Plotnik 2003, pg385) in 1969. I was then that Ainsworth questioned, how attachment occurs? Are there different types of attachment? And what are the long-term effects of attachment? (Plotnik 2003, pg385).

Attachment occurs from the birth stage and through infancy. It is at this stage the child begins smiling and general social interaction. (Plotnik 2003, pg385).

Ainsworth concluded that there were four different kinds of attachment ranging from “attachment parenting”- where the child uses there care giver as a safe base and feels secure - to “Insecure parenting”- where the child shows resistance or ambivalence towards its parents. The different type of attachment or bond formed with the child over the first five years (cited in Plotnik 2003, pg 385) answers the third question of what are the long term effects of attachment. Having a secure relationship as a child is associated with better problem solving skills and better relationships in later life. (Plotnik 2003, pg 385). While having an a strong attachment is important, to reduce the chances of a child developing separation anxiety it is important for a child to build trust in other adults and interaction with other children also is beneficial ().

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“Separation anxiety is an infant’s distress – as indicated by loud protests, crying and agitation – whenever the infant’s parents temporarily leave” (Plotnik 2003, pg 385) or a distress reaction due to the absence of the parent or care giver (LaFreniere, P 1995 ).

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Most common times for separation fears are between eight and twelve months and anytime between 18 months and three years. (Watkins, ). It is important to make a child feel secure in there environment before leaving them with another care giver. For example visiting the care giver on a regular basis before leaving them with that person for a long period of time (Fox 1996, pg 47). “A stranger's approach is critical in determining how an infant might respond”(Watkins, ). For example if the stranger approaches slowly, when the is nearby, smiling and speaking softly, offering a toy, the infant will often show interest, distress is less likely ”(Watkins, ).

Treating separation anxiety can be difficult in some children. Some children may benefit from counselling or therapy (Watkins, ), although other methods, for example, the operant conditioning (or instrumental conditioning) may be more appropriate for Sally as this is the first time she will be absent from her mother or main caregiver. The “operant conditioning method is a kind of learning in which a human performs some behaviour, and the following consequence (reward or punishment) increases or decreases the chance the human will again perform that behaviour” (Plotnik 2003, pg 213).

In relation to Sally’s situation the operant conditioning technique would be used by way of taking Sally to her grandmas rewarding her with praise and treats if she doesn’t get upset when you leave her. Using this method will teach her to relate treats with both being well behaved and grandma. This must be done immediately after she does not cry or when she stops crying, by her grandma, so that she relates the treat with being well behaved.

I have designed the following behavioural program for Sally’s mother to use as guide.

Phase one: Take Sally to see grandma every couple of days for a week and stay with her and encourage her to interact with grandma. Take some of Sally’s favourite toys and things from home, things that may keep her preoccupied.

Phase two: Take Sally to see grandma for every couple of days for a week and leave the room for twenty minutes at a time but stay in a room close by so she can still here your voice and feels safe thus giving her the confidence to be with grandma alone. If Sally cries let grandma try and calm her down and when she eventually does reward her with praise or treats.

Phase three: Before taking Sally to see Grandma Sally’s mother will need to explain to her that she needs to do something while she is spending time with grandma and what you expect of her when you leave the house. It may be buying her a new toy and letting her know, before you leave, that she can have her new toy if she doesn’t cry when you go. Taking Sally inside the house and getting her comfortable in the surroundings again would beneficial so that she again feels secure. Sally’s mum should say goodbye to Sally but reassure her that she will be back very soon and she will be safe with grandma. Sally’s mother should not give into her crying as “Crying has been conceived as stimulating a mother to come into closer proximity with her infant “(Gerwitz 1976, pg 143). She should leave her for an hour or so, if she cries her mother should just reassure her and then leave.

Grandma will need to wait till she stops crying again to reward her. When mother arrives back she should talk to Sally about what she did and how much fun she had. Sally “may be a little clingy although this is common after brief separations” (Sanders 1992, pg 176).

Phase four: Sally’s mother will need to explain to Sally about her needing to go back to school and that she (Sally) will be spending a morning with Grandma every week. She will need to make is sound very positive and exciting. Rewarding her with something on her first day that she likes and doesn’t have at home e.g. paints maybe helpful and then she can use them for the next few times till she gets used to the relating painting and fun with Grandma. (Berry 1990, pg 38)

If Sally is not responding in the first few weeks the process may be needed to be simplified and Sally’s mother will need to persist by offering Sally more praise when she is left alone for minutes at a time and see how she responds.

Sally may respond immediately to the operant conditioning process, if this is the case it would be a good time to measure the success of the program i.e. To find out if Sally is only conditioned to her grandma or if she is comfortable with other people in general. To test this Sally’s mother should start taking her to a day care once a week, as well as testing the operant conditioning technique, this will get her used to other children and adults. Using this option would be advantageous so that she has more interaction with other children and sees other children being without their mothers, and also so that Sally’s mother has more options than just grandma.

As noted by Ollendick and Francis (1988) (cited King 1993, pg 329) Operant based procedures in the treatment of phobic children is inconclusive because almost all support for use of operant procedures is based on controlled studies in which children were not referred for treatment. (cited King 1993, pg 329)

While a separation anxiety is not uncommon for one-year-old infants, should a parent become fretful if it perseveres into later years? “Answering this question depends upon the nature of the child's response, its intensity, and persistence over time” (LaFreniere,P 1995 http://www.findarticles.com). It generally can depend on how early a parent starts to leave the child and how trusting the child is towards other adults even when their mother is around (LaFreniere,P 1995 http://www.findarticles.com). In Sally’s case her mother has left it to three years old which is later than would be usual but if a rat and a bear can be taught using the method (Plotnik 2003, pg 215-217), I would assume a child of three years old can too.

References:

Author Unknown, Date Unknown, What is Attachment Parenting?, http://mn.essortment.com/whatisattachme_rtts.htm

Berry, Joy 1990, About Dependence and Separation, Children’s Press, United States of America

Fox, Isabelle 1996, Being There – The benefits of a Stay-at- Home Parent, Barrons, United States of America

Gerwitz, Jacob 1976, “The Attachment Acquisition Process as Evidenced in the Maternal Conditioning of Cued Infant Responding (Particularly Crying)”, Human Development, Vol 19, pg 143

King, Neville J 1993, “Simple and Social Phobias, Advances in Clinical Child Psychology, Vol 15, Pgs 305-341

1995, , United States of America http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/g2602/0004/2602000476/p2/article.jhtml?term

Plotnik, Rod 2002, Introduction to Psychology 6th Edition, Wadsworth Thomson Learning, United States of America

Sanders, Matthew R 1992, Every Parent – A Positive Approach to Children’s Behaviour, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company Inc, Australia

Velting, Olivia N, Setzer, Nicole J, Albano, Anne Marie 2004, Update on and Advances in Assessment and Cognitive-Behavioural Treatment of Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents, Professional Psychology, Research and Practice, Vol 35, No 1, Pg 42-54

Watkins, Carol E Date unknown